YPSILANTI, MI - Ypsilanti International Elementary School is hoping to more than double its enrollment for the 2017-18 school year, as the school expands from preschool through second grade to a preschool through 5th grade school.

The school is wrapping up its first year en route to becoming an authorized International Baccalaureate world school, which staff hope to accomplish in April 2018. Teachers have been trained on the IB approach, which involves project-based, inquiry-driven learning, and they've begun teaching students about "learner profiles" that promote traits like being principled, open-minded and caring. Students also begin learning Spanish in kindergarten.

"Seeing the hands-on opportunities the students have makes a huge difference in their understanding and critical-thinking skills," said Principal Cassandra Sheriff, who's new to the school this year after serving as assistant director for early childhood programs at Ypsilanti Schools.

The school - located at 503 Oak St. and formerly called Adams STEM Academy - opened as YIES going into the 2016-17 school year, when it changed from a 2-5 school. Older students who would have attended Adams for third, fourth or fifth grade this year had the option of transferring to Ypsilanti's Holmes, Erickson or Estabrook schools. Preschoolers enroll in a tuition-based program at YIES.

YIES has completed its first application round for students who want to attend the school in the fall, and students who apply now will be added to a waiting list to fill available space. There's capacity for 380 students, and the school currently enrolls 106.

The international elementary school will operate as a magnet program, meaning it doesn't automatically enroll students from nearby neighborhoods. All incoming students must apply for a seat, and if there's more demand than space available, a random lottery will determine who's accepted.

YIES students will have a seat at Ypsilanti's Washtenaw International Middle Academy - an IB middle school - if they want it, but they're not guaranteed space at Washtenaw International High School, which is run by the Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium. WIHI shares a building with WIMA, and the IB high school enrolls students from Washtenaw County's nine traditional public school districts.

Each school district is designated a certain number of seats at WIHI, said David Dugger, executive director of Washtenaw Educational Options Consortium.

YCS Superintendent Benjamin Edmondson said WIMA plans to add capacity for more students in the coming years to accommodate an anticipated increase in demand as more students enroll at YIES and want to continue on the IB track. WIMA currently enrolls 190 students and has capacity for about 200, Edmondson said.

Tasha Pohrt decided to enroll her second-grade son at YIES this school year after he aged out of Ypsilanti's Perry Early Learning Center. Their neighborhood school is Estabrook Elementary, and Pohrt said her son was accepted at two Ann Arbor elementary schools through Schools of Choice.

But ultimately, she decided on YIES because of the IB curriculum and the chance to support her local public school district.

"It's an amazing school," said Pohrt, who is treasurer of the YIES PTO. "We have a group of very engaged parents, so we are excited for the additional grades to come. I feel like the parents are great and their involvement is wonderful. With third, fourth and fifth grade being added ... we'll be doubling the school size, and hopefully we can double the parent involvement."